pet stores


Today I took the bike out for an hour's ride. Cruising street after street, for some reason I passed dozens of pet shops. Dogs, especially samoyeds, grooming places, animal recovery hospital, aquariums. And in a grassy area along a pedestrian/bike street, several people were parading their large well-brushed and cared for canines. Walking my bike along one block, a distinguished hound sat on his haunches looking like he knew his place and he was a member of the community, and why was I looking at him? I saw a lone cat for just a moment, then it was gone.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Back on, LIVE!

Image
Holy moly macaroli. The powers that be are pretty fearsome these days in the land of the non-free press. Fortunately there are ways to deal with it and so I hope with all my heart that this fix will last me until I am not a resident in Shanghai any more. If you are living in China and need a way to your beloved sites, just drop me a line and I will give you free advice that works for me and others. Knowledge, now more than ever, is power! Numbers seem a bit down for enrollment in the school I teach in but that just means a smaller student to teacher ratio and a better deal for those kids. Every day of work in this institution I feel grateful to have a job and that it is an important part of this international community. It's about the first job I have ever been in where I feel all my colleagues are pretty much team players and even have a good working relationship with all my superiors. So despite missing family and friends back home I am very happy. And Skype is a beautiful thing.
Read more

March 1, 2011

Szechuan Spicy Wontons Makes about 50 wontons (Feeds 6)   Filling: 1.5 lbs ground pork (half fatty/half lean) 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined 2 Large pieces Woodear Fungus, soaked and chopped finely 1/4 cup green onion, chopped finely Soy Sauce Hoisin Sauce Sesame Oil Sugar 2 packs Shanghai Style dumpling wrappers, square kind (they are white, as opposed to the yellow Cantonese-style wrappers)   Dressing : Chili Oil Vinegar Garlic, finely minced 1/4 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped 2 stalks scallions, rougly chopped   Combine your pork, shrimp, green onion and woodear fungus. I find that the best way to mix your filling is to lay it all out on large cutting board and mince it up with a cleaver. Incorporate the soy, hoisin, sesame oil, and sugar to taste. Mince until you have a fine paste. Place a quarter-size amount of meat in the center of the wrapper. Dip your finger in a cup of water and trace the water around half the dumpling, it will act as glue when you press all the
Read more

You know you've been in China for a while when...

-everyone you know has had some kind of major digestive problem that seemed life-threatening at the time -you no longer ask why, you just go on with a WTF sigh -it's an ordinary thing to see someone walking backwards clapping their hands on the sidewalk -you get on the elevator and there is you, a family of 3, a bike, and a stroller and it doesn't seem crowded -you are used to getting your salary in cash -your taxi swiped your refillable pay card and switched it on you to one with a zero balance -you live in local housing and have no heat source in your kitchen or bathroom, but that's ok because why do we heat them anyway? -receiving international personal mail is a cause for celebration -you regularly take motorcycle taxis...      
Read more